Flat terminal fitting



April 6, 1948. w. A. MEIGHAN 2,439,141

" FLAT TERMINAL FITTING Filed Nov. 3, 1944 buerzi or .FV'ZZiamHMi ban Afiorzzgj Patented Apr. 6, 1948 UN [TED STATES IiCE r l r 2,439,141.

LM: rnammnnmnne William A. Meighan, Portland; Greg. L ApplicationrNovember a, 1s44tsenal=notsclnss 6 Claims; '1

The object of my invention .is to provide a.fl'at terminal fitting which isso constructed. that the end of a wire rope or cable can be secured thereto without having to be passed end-first through. a close fitting eye or orifice. Wire. rope tends to be frayed out at an end where it, is out. .That is, wire rope is made of elastic wire instrandsformed into a cable and, whenthe rope is -cut said free ends tend to. spread out or tov bloom so as to present a. substantially larger cross sectional area than that of the cable. It is common to whip or bind said wire ends together butit is impractical to bind. them so tightlythat they do not fray or bloomj Thus, if the end of the cable thus frayedhas to be pushedendwise through an eye it presents substantial diificulty. I' have discovered that a terminal fittingcan be constructed in which the eonvolutions. of a knot may be formed and held without necessitating said end to. be forced longitudinally through such a close fitting eye and yet a tight knot can be formed which will not slip and will not tend to become untied even though'the ropeis quite stiff and elastic.

The present invention relates tothe same gen.- eral subject matter as. do previous patents issued to me, namely:- patent entitled Wire. rope. fitting, issued. September 26,1939, No. 2, 174,192; patent entitled Rope fitting, issued March 12, 1940, No. 2,193,236.

Further details of my invention and the oper ation thereof are hereinafter'described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a flat terminal fitting embodying my invention;

Fig; 2- is a more or less diagrammatic illustration, shown in perspective and 'ona reduced'tscale, of themanner in which thefrayed end of awire rope may easily be passed sidewise through: an elongated eye, initially to engage said wire rope fitting;

Fig. 3 is a similar view, but on a slightly larger scale, illustrating how a rope may be formed into a loosely formed knot about said fitting; and

Fig. 4 is an elevation of said fitting showing the manner in which the tightened knot engages various parts of said fitting to prevent slipping or inadvertent disengagement.

A wire rope fitting i is made as an integral structure by forging, casting, stamping, Or other appropriate manufacturing procedure and is sub stantially bifurcated in elevation. The ends of said bifurcation terminate in two opposed spaced free ends, or eyes 2, having holes 3 formed therein to receive a pin or other keeper. Said fitting encompasses, a. more or: less keyhole-shaped, recess. 4. Above theportionofsaid: recess of greater breadth. isa. bailQlike member. 5 defining an. elonated aperture. 6. therein.

Extending laterally from saidfltt'ing atoneside ofsaidrecess. 4. isan lip-standing. member 1 resembling. a. thumb, and. projecting downwardly below. the general. plane, of said aperture isiapair of spaced finger-like. members. 8.. and 9, respectively- The member. 8= overlies the upper portion. of. said keyholesh-apedrecess-41 while th finger-like member 9 overlies the portion. of the bifurcated; fitting spaced from said member I. Said two finger-like members. and the thumb-like member. between them define a transyersely disposed way L0. and said m'embersl',.8 and 9. arespacedlater-ally apart atsubstantially uniform. distances. It. is to; be noted in Figs. 2 and. 4} that. said two members 8 and. 9; extend downwardly below: the tip of, the member 1' so. that, the. finger members 81, and, 9 from. above", and the: thumb-like member, I. from below,. wholly encompass they way [0. Lying, between said' member T andmember Bis a more or less longitudinally disposed slot Iii. and between the fingers 8 and'.] is another slot 12'. Preferably, the width oi? the. slot. H. cl oselyapproximates the diameter. of the cable [ti s to be accommodated therein. That isx cable end. 1311,. may be. slipped sidewise through the elongated aperture 6,, as is indicated in Fig. 2, and" then a substantial" portion, of the end' of said; cable is passedtherethrough and the cable end rsa may be slidlfate'rally into slot ll between the members T and 8;; when said cable is arranged substantially at 1 o'clock considering the position of the hands on the face of aclock; The intermediate" portions of said cable may then be moved under the finger-like members 8 and 9 and a loop maybe formed, passing through the recess 4' as the cable isillustrated in Fig. 3; Then, when the terminal fitting is held and tension is applied to the cable, the rope may be tightened into a knot, as is illustrated in Fig. 4. It is to be noted that the end of the cable lying in the transversely disposed way I0 is curved slightly. That is, a slight kink is formed in it. This is important because it tends to lock said free end in said way before tension is applied and this prevents the cable from slipping out of the position in which it is initially arranged. Continued and increased tension tends to bind the cable about the portions of the wire rope fitting, overlying other portions thereof, to prevent slipping. The close fit between the members 1 and 8, that is, the

curves. downwardly and i the free, and usually frayed,

3 limited width of the slot ll, tends to prevent the end of the cable from looping about and passing inadvertently through said slot when tension is applied. Wire rope or cable being twisted and wound strand upon strand tends to untwist and, unless it is firmly held, it may sometimes fly free. It is essential that wire rope fittings of this character be quickly and securely tied, not only for the end use of securing the end of a cable, but also to eliminate injury to workmen. It takes substantial pull on a cable to form a knot from its form as shown in Fig. 3 to its form as shown in f Fig, 4, and if a cable is permitted tofiy free it.

would sweep out and possibly injure someone standing near. Said inadvertent detachment-is prevented because said cable cannot easily pass laterally through the slot ll. That is, When it lies in the way l it is kinked slightly. The alasticity of the wire rope tends to resist said kinking and thus binds said ends beneath said two finger-like members 8 and 9, and above and within the rip-standing thumb-like member I. Said fitting resembles quite closely the thumb, forefinger and middle fingers of the right hand when partially clenched.

This type of wire rope has particular utility when used in connection with relatively lightweight cable and may be easily and quickly tied to the end of a wire rope wherever there is a place to secure the fitting and to apply tension thereto. Even when used with relatively large sizes of wire rope it can be tied to a terminal fitting by a single workman with his bare hands.

I claim: I

1. An integral, flat terminal rope fitting having an elongated body, comprising a bifurcated member having securing elements on the free ends thereof, the central portion thereof defining a recess, an apertured member secured to said bifurcated member and projecting longitudinally therefrom, and aseries of spaced, opposed clawlike fingers extending laterally from the face of said bifurcated member and defining an inclosed transverse rope way.

2.. An integral, flat terminal rope fitting having an elongated body, comprisinga bifurcated member having securing elements on the free ends thereofithe central portion thereof defining a recess, an apertured member secured to said bifurcated member and projecting longitudinally therefrom and a series vof spaced, opposed clawlike fingers extending laterally from the face of said bifurcated member and defining an inclosed transverse rope way, the space between two opposed fingers closely approximating the diameter of the rope to be secured to said fitting.

3. An integral, flat terminal rope fitting having an elongated body, comprising a bifurcated member having securing elements on the free ends thereof, the central portion thereof defining a recess, an apertured member secured to said bifurcated member and projecting longitudinally therefrom, and a series of spaced, opposed clawlike fingers extending laterally from the face of said bifurcated member and defining an inclosed transverse rope way, said fingers defining a bow in said way lying in the general plane of said fitting.

4. An integral, flat terminal rope fitting having an elongated body, comprising a bifurcated member having securing elements on the free ends thereof, the central portion thereof defining arecess, an apertured member secured to said bifurcated member and projecting longitudinally therefrom, and a series of spaced, opposed claw-like fingers extending laterally from the face of said'bifurcated member and defining an inclosed transverse rope way, said fingers defining a bow in said way lying in the general plane of said fitting and in a direction away from said apertured member. j

5. An integral, fiat terminal rope fitting having an elongated body, comprising a bifurcated member having securing elements on the free ends thereof, the central portion thereof defining a keyhole recess, an apertured member secured to said bifurcated member and projecting longitudinally therefrom, and a series of spaced, opposed claw-like fingers extending laterally from the face of said bifurcated member and defining an inclosed transverse rope way. Y

6. An integral, flat terminal rope fitting having an elongated body, comprising a bifurcated member having securing elements on the free ends thereof, the central portion thereof defining a keyhole recess, an apertured member secured to said bifurcated member and projecting longitudinally therefrom, and a series of spaced, opposed claw-like fingers extending laterally from the face of said bifurcated member and de fining an inclosed transverse rope way, the space between two opposed fingers closely approximate" ing the diameter of the rope to be secured tosaid fitting, and said fingers being proportioned and REFERENCES .CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patentz" UNITED s'rA'rEs PATENTS Name 'Date Seyster Apr. 5, 1904 Jones Aug. 1, 1905 Whitehead Nov. 21, 1916 Parmeter June 11, 1918 Number 

